Breezeblocks
by la fille d'etoiles
Summary: "You can love a monster, it can even love you back, but that doesn't change its nature." Moving during senior year can be hard. Moving to small town in the middle of nowhere, terrible. Maybe Brett will find more than she bargained for in Mystic Falls.
1. No Cars Go

_"I am afraid of getting older… I am afraid of getting married. Spare me from cooking three meals a day—spare me from the relentless cage of routine and rote. I want to be free…" Sylvia Plath_

It was humid as hell, and I had always hated humidity. At least it wasn't raining. Hot rain was even worse. I sighed.

"Hey, this is going to be a good thing for us," my aunt repeated for the millionth time. She had been saying that since we had received news that my great aunt had left my mother her house. Which meant it was mine now. We had been down on our luck for a while now. The bills had piled up. We had been struggling. And this was our new start.

I know that I should be grateful, but why Virginia of all place? Why some go forsaken town in the middle of nowhere?

We passed another cornfield. Or maybe it was the same one. It all seemed to stretch out for miles; the navel of this great nation. I never wanted to see another field of corn again in my life.

"I know," I said, trying to smile. It was hard, leaving right before senior year. Everyone had already made their friends, the ones they always hung out with. I'd only really miss Mitch and Chelsea, my two partners in crime, who had spent countless nights drunk at the beach with me.

She smiled, taking a hand off the wheel to squeeze mine. I smiled.

"To small towns and old racist white men," she cried, yelling out the window, and letting the hot air blow her hair into her face. She went on to roll all the windows down, it was Junel's favorite thing to do. Let the wind run through her hair. It was better when the wind was cold and stung your skin.

I laughed, turning on the radio, searching for something upbeat. I was dead tired from sitting in a car seat for the past three days. It was surprising how tiring sitting could be after a while.

We sang along to the radio, windows down, drinking lukewarm coffee from the last gas station we had stopped at. It was probably the exhaustion, but I was feeling good about this move. I could use a new start. I had always loved change. Change was interesting. And I was restless.

Restless like the sea. I laughed at the thought.

That's what I would miss the most. The sea.

I closed my eyes and let the wind whip up my hair, knotting it into a later to be regretted mess., but that would be later. For now, I could enjoy the small comfort wind was, even it it was hot.

Two cups of coffee later, we pulled up to my great aunt Ximena's house. It was bigger than I had expected.

"So what do you think?"

I nodded, rummaging around for the house key we had been sent. "It's bigger than I expected."

"I know right," Junel grinned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "I was expecting a run down shack or something. But this is great."

"A cliche country house," I added, "now where are the neighbors with the pie to welcome us to the neighborhood."

"Come on, we should get what we can inside. we can start cleaning out tomorrow." Junel stated, grabbing her suitcase from the trunk.

I did the same, following her to the front door. It really was a nice house, country styled. There was even a porch complete with a swing.

Opening the door, we were hit with a musty smell. Dust and choked air. My nose crinkled. "Open up all the windows," we both said to each other. Leaving the our suitcases in the entryway, we ran around opening up every window, ripping the curtains back. The house was clearly the work of an old lady. It was cluttered with mementos and photographs, yellowed with time.

I smiled at the still life that dominated the kitchen. It was as well made as the ones in museums.

Some of these things would have to go, either to the trash of to be donated, maybe even to antique shops. But some of my great aunt's stuff was pretty cool. The kind of stuff sold at hipster stores, overpriced and vintage.

Once the windows had been opened and there was some air flowing through the house, I dragged my suitcase into the living room. My aunt was already there charging her phone.

"No wi-fi," she told me, pouting.

"That sucks." It would take days to get the internet connected. Days without anything to do since I didn't know anyone yet.

"Yeah, but I found some bottles of tequila," she grinned. "Not that I'm okaying underage drinking or anything," she intoned seriously, the effect being ruined by her own smile.

"Of course not Juny," I smirked. My aunt had never cared if I drank so long as I didn't get caught and still did well in school. It was our deal. Do well in school, and you get to do pretty much whatever you want. I loved her, even if her parenting was probably not up to par with what most people thought was "good" parenting.

"so what do you want to do? Because this house kind of creeps me out. I'd rather sleep her int he living room til we start clearing thing out and take a shower," she looked over at me. "Sound good to you?"

I nodded, "yeah, that's fine."

She made me go find the bathroom with her. There were two, thank god. She always took forever to get ready. Not that I was any better, but that was different. Only after she had turned on the light and checked the whole thing out did she let me go back downstairs.

My bones ached, cramped from sitting. I laid down, looking through instagram, bummed I was missing out on all the bonfires and parties back home. Home. Had it been home? I wasn't sure. I had grown up there, back in San Francisco. But I wasn't sure if that really made it home.

I was surprised when Junel only took ten minutes to shower and change. She threw her wet towel at me, "your turn Brett," as she threw her clothes on the floor, already starting to make a mess.

I threw it back, grabbing my stuff before running up the stairs, avoiding getting hit with a towel again. "Te amenzaste," I cried down the stairs. It was easy to forget with Junel that she was technically my parent. She was always so chill.

The bathroom was sort of strange, mostly because it was a strange bathroom. I never felt weird in other people's houses, but for some reason it was bathrooms that reminded me this wasn't my home. But it would be, I reminded myself. It was.

I turned the heat up, happy that Junel hadn't used it all up for once. She was the real cause of the drought in California. I rinsed my hair, ran the soap threw it, glad to finally be rid of all the grime and dirt. I hated going a day without showering. It was disgusting, especially going to sleep without showering.

I changed into a large shirt, before combing my hair and headed downstairs. Junel was already out like a light. She had taken the largest couch. God. I rolled my eyes, stealing all the cushions, before curling up onto another couch. It was hot, and i didn't need a blanket, to make me wake up all sweaty.

It took a week of rummaging around before we had cleared out and sorted all the junk from valuables. We didn't need twenty million curtains, but the rugs were nice. There was moth eaten baby clothes, trash, and a china sets that belong in a museum, we had no clue if they were really valuable but the did look nice.

Only after multiple round of sorting and dusting did the house start to look like our house. Junel immediately claimed the master bedroom downstairs, since it had and adjoining bath and she could "make sure you're not up to no good chamaca." It also was the largest bedroom, but I'm sure that had nothing to do with it.

There were two more bedrooms upstairs and a study that was used as sewing room. I chose the one down the hall with a bay window. It even opened. Lots of air flow for me.

Junel made me go to town to find a place to donate and sell our stuff. I also made a point of doing a grocery run, I was dying for some yogurt.

Mystic Falls was a poster town for small towns. There was only one high school, and i could walk across town easily, not counting the houses surrounding downtown. So, it didn't take long to find a donation bin and antique shop.

It was the antique shop of my dreams. Bells chimed as I walked in.

"Hi anything i can help you with," said a girl my age, standing behind the counter.

"Yeah," I said, "I was looking to sell some stuff, I was wondering if you guys buy stuff?" i had left my boxes of stuff in the car, not sure if they would take anything. I didn't want to look stupid if they said no.

"Yeah sure. Just bring in what you want to sell, and I'll have my mom evaluate it while you wait. Sound good," she asked biting her lip.

"Sounds great," I replied, "let me just go get my stuff."

"Okay, " she nodded, looking towards the backroom.

I headed back out to grab a box of things. Once I came back inside there was an older woman who was clearly this girl's mother, same crooked nose and heart shaped face.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Sargent. I was told you have some things that might be of value," she asked, glancing at me carefully. She was judging my crop shirt, probably too low for her standards.

"Yeas," I answered snidely. She could go to hell for all I cared.

With care, I Placed the box on the counter, and watched as she pulled things out. She scribbling some thing on a notepad, spending more time on some items than others. It was a boring process.

I wandered away, waiting for her to finish, browsing around. There was a really cool pallet bed. it seemed easy enough to diy, but diy projects never turned out right for me. I scowled. There was a case with jewelry. i never wore jewelry, but I had always like necklaces and bracelets, even earrings.

A gun metal bracelet inlaid with obsidian caught my eye. It was black, and subdued. I wanted it.

"It's twenty five dollars, but you could probably trade in something. you have a lot of neat stuff," the girl said, resting against the glass case. "Are you new here?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Small town," she sighed, fingers trailing patterns on the glass. Her nails were chewed down.

"Yeah, just moved here a week ago." I glanced over at her, taking note of her for the first time. She had a long flow-y dress, hair braided, eyes darting around the room. She seemed sweet, if a little nervous.

"Olivia. Are you still in school?"

"Yeah. Senior actually." I admitted, decided to buy the bracelet. New starts. Well, mostly one of my treat-yourself moments. The bane of my existence.

"Finished," Mrs. Sargent called out, her voice easily carrying through the store. She had all the items neatly laid out. She went over prices and reasons, even some of the history behind the items. It actually seemed quite interesting to be an antique shops person.

I haggled a bit on some of the pieces, trying to get a better deal. Threw in all the other items she hadn't wanted to buy in for free since I needed to get rid of them anyways, and left the other boxes for her to go though. She said she would call me later. Grabbing my cash I headed out, having taken longer than I thought I would have.

It was dark, and school was starting next week. I was not looking forward at all to having to invade a group of friends since birth or something. i shook my head. I'd figure it out later.

Oliva caught up to me as I started to open my car door.

"I noticed you looking at this earlier," she said, holding out the bracelet I had forgotten all about. "Think of it as a welcome to town gift."

"Thank you," I said smiling, "i guess there really is something to southern hospitality."

She laughed, "see you in school i guess then-"

"Brett," I said taking the bracelet from he hand, and pocketing it.

"Well, welcome to Mystic Falls."


	2. Good Times Gonna Come

_"It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing." The Sun Also Rises_

I swiped another layer of lipstick on before racing out of the car. I didn't want to be late. Not that I had a good reason to be late to start with. Telenovelas were not a good reason to stay up late doing homework regardless of how addicting the could be. Honestly I would look for any excuse to not do homework. It bored me. I'd rather cleaned than do math.

The school was pretty small compared to my old school, and I was pretty sure it was the only high school around. That freaked me out. this really was a small town. Which meant that everyone knew each other, and their parents probably knew each other. But it was okay because I had already made some friends. Olivia had invited me to sit with her and occasionally Bonnie. It was mostly the two of us, but we had grown close, so it didn't even matter that with didn't have twenty friends. Bonnie was apparently had been more or less avoiding her old friends. She came and went between our groups, always having some good advice to never told us why, but it wasn't my problem, so I didn't bother her about it.

"Are you going to the dance," Bonnie asked as I sat down just as the bell rang. Mr. Saltsman gave me his usually look. He was used to me being late, but I did well in class, so whatever.

I shrugged, "I might. I'm in serious need of something to do."

She laughed, "I kind of like how peaceful it's been."

"Damn, I missed out on all the crazy stuff," I replied.

Her smiled fell, "trust me, it's for the best." She glanced over at her old friends, sighing.

"Well we should go then, be seniors and do all the school stuff," I told her, "maybe someone will spike the punch," I said winking.

She rolled her eyes and took out her notebook. "Well it's tonight, so you better hurry up and find a dress."

"I'm sure i can find something," I said shrugging.

"Miss Darr, I'm sure whatever it is your talking about with Miss Bennet is important, but your in my class right now. It can wait," Mr Saltsman stated.

Bonnie apologized, but I couldn't help but smirk.

The rest of the day flew by quickly. It had taken far too long to convince Olivia to come to the dance with us, but she eventually gave in. Dances should be attended in groups, they were just more fun that way. We all bought our tickets, along with Bonnie's other friends.

Caroline seemed nice. She was obviously the typical cheerleader, but I'd learned not to believe all the teen movies by now. Elena was more distant. She always seemed preoccupied with other stuff, making sure that neither Olivia or I was listening when she whispered to Bonnie or Caroline. It was sort of annoying how she did it right in front of us.

Just as I'm getting ready to leave the house, all ready to go, vodka in my handbag, Bonnie texts me to say she can't make it. I groan. I still have Olivia. Time to be a bad influence on my new friend. Then Olivia texted me to tell me that the party ended up being moved to Tyler Lockwood's home. I remember Caroline mentioning him a few times, but I don't actually know the guy.

Olivia picked me up since my aunt has the car. I could drive but didn't have a car. What was the point? She had her makeup done for once, even her nails have been filed. The dress looked vintage, so she must have borrowed it from her mom's story, or it could have been a family thing seeing as all these families had been here for ages. She smiles,"you look so pretty Brett."

"So do you," I say, meaning it. If Olivia had a little more confidence, the boys at school would be all over her. I slid into the passenger door, and immediately start playing with the radio, "NPR is not an acceptable radio station to listen to before a homecoming dance. Well supposed Homecoming dance since it was move. Why was it moved?"

"The school's gym flooded," she replied shrugging.

"Drive faster," I complain. She drives like an old lady, hunched over the wheel, miles below the speed limit.

"Rather be safe than sorry," she tells me, not taking her sight off the road.

Once we finally do get there, I convince her to take a few sips of the vodka to loosen up before heading inside. I spot Caroline and go over to say hi.

She's with Matt. I try to remember if they're dating or not.

"Hey Caroline, you look really nice," I say smiling.

"So do you," she grins.

Olivia greats Matt and we chat for a while. Once Tyler Lockwood comes over, things get awkward so I drag Olivia to the makeshift dance floor. I prompt her to start dancing, dancing badly to the music. The DJ's okay, but Olivia seems to be enjoying herself, and we're far to busy laughing with each other to think too much.

We take more sips from my flask of vodka. It's the most fun I've had since I got here. All this night needs now is a cute boy and some bad decisions. I shake my head. No. That would mean ditching Olivia and I couldn't do that to her.

She's a happy drunk, giggling at whatever catches her eyes. Its adorable, and get me laughing as well. I wave to Elena as she walks in with a handsome man who I assume is her boyfriend. Dark hair, blue eyes. It makes for an attractive combination.

Hot and drunk, Olivia and I gravitate towards the kitchen, finding something cold to drink. I want punch, but even drunk, Olivia worries about safety and makes me get a closed can of beer for both of us. It's probably for the best since I don't know how well she can hold her liquor.

We sit down together on the back porch and ignore the sound of a fight breaking out at the front of the house. We talk about random things, and I start to open up to her. How it was hard moving here.

"But it's okay now since I've met you. Bonnie's cool too," I muse.

She smiles, laughing, "do you think aliens road trip through space?"

"Dude," I say patting her arm fervently, "that would be so cool. road trip through the stars, forget stupid corn fields. I want to see the stars."

"Maybe there's a alien out there complaining of the endless stars," Olivia mused, looking up at the sky. "wanting to be back down on the ground, thinking about how nice it would have been to just stay on that one planet instead of crossing a galaxy."

"Then that alien's stupid." Was stupidity more than just a human thing? Probably.

We dance outside to the music carried out from inside, watching the stars, until it abruptly stops. Olivia pouts, and I laugh at her expression. It makes her look like she tasted something rotten.

Tyler goes around announcing that the party's over. We hurry out, trying to avoid the crowds of other drunk teenagers. Olivia doesn't seem fit to drive, so I snatch the keys from her bag and drive us back to my house.

The light's are out, but the car's in the driveway. Junel's back from work, probably laying in bed on her phone. She had called and made a huge complaint, involving a lot of yelling, until the cable guy had installed our internet connection. We had pizza afterwords.

I led Olivia inside and we curled up on my be to watch old friends episodes. I keep shoving her to the side when it got too hot. Another person was just too much body heat to handle. I sent Bonnie a selfie of us, hoping she regret staying home. She was missing out on all the fun.

We fell asleep laughing. In that moment, I was glad we have moved here. It was boring enough to keep me from doing stupid things, but there were some great people. Senior year might just be as great as it was made out to be. I only had to get though college applications and I was set.

I woke up, annoyed at the sun. It was too bright. I wasn't truly hungover. I hadn't had that much to drink. Olivia was still asleep, so I went downstairs to get her some water and advil for when she woke up.

"How was the dance? See any cute boys," Junel asks while see eats cereal.

"Breakfast at noon," I ask her instead. Laughing at the offended look she gives me, mouth hanging open.

"Hey," she retorts, "you're the one just waking up. Nice bedhead. Now answer the question Brett."

"You're not supposed to encourage my scandalous behavior," I tell her, "but it was fun. Didn't see any interesting boy though." It's not like she would care about Elena's boyfriend. "Well, Elena, one of Bonnie's friends went with this older guy. He was hot," I shrug.

"So everything's good then," she asks seriously. Junel, probably the best legal guardian ever. I go over to hug her.

"I love you too Juny," I tell her.

"Ew go away and take a shower first before you go around hugging me."

I laugh heading back upstairs to shower.

Olivia takes one after me and then drives home. Juny offers to call her mom and clear anything up just in case she gets introuble, but only after helping her hide the most obvious signs of a hangover. Fucking lightweight.

She hugs me before leaving.

I spend most of the weekend doing homework or looking at colleges, eventually just watching TV and eating fruit. I always mean to be more productive than I am. At least I do the housework, so I'm not totally useless. The bad thing about a two story house is the more cleaning that goes into it, but exercise right.

Olivia does text me to tell me that she's not in too much trouble and Bonnie apologizes for missing a fun night out.

All in all not a bad way to spend the weekend.


	3. Tear You Apart

" _But if you didn't believe in monsters, then how were you going to be able to keep safe from them?" Holly Black_

"I'm sick of Bonnie's shit. If she doesn't want to hang out with us fine," I ranted, "but she can at least stop making bullshit excuses and pretending she's busy when she's always running off with Stefan and Elena."

Olivia stopped sucking on her Popsicle, tilting her head, "You're reading too much into things." Then continued to search for a movie to watch. Apparently it's hard to find a movie she's in the mood for.

I rolled my eyes, "she blew us off for Caroline."

"It was her birthday," Olivia reminded me, "and we don't know Caroline that well." She grabbed the VHS tape of the mummy, and popped it into the vhs player.

"She could have at least told us," I argued, "I would have understood, but no. She just cancels at the last minute. What a dick move." I grabbed a handful of chips to stuff my face with. It was so tiring. It was a wonder I hadn't called her out on her shit. I didn't know how Olivia could defend her.

"Just let it go," she said noting my apprehensive look, "at least for tonight, and enjoy. My mom's still very mad that I drank, but I convinced her that I didn't know the punch was spiked," she tells me grinning. She had told me a few times already. So fucking proud of herself.

I snorted, "such a rebel Olivia. I shouldn't be around you, it might rub off on me."

"Shut up," she giggled as she slid off her bed and fell down next to me. Our knees banged together as she adjusted herself. The movie was starting. I loved this movie. When I was younger I imagined myself to be Rick, or Evelyn, depending on my mood. I wanted to get into terribly exciting adventures.

We snacked our way through a bag of chips and soda, adding commentary.

"I honestly got contacts so that i'd never lose my glasses and get killed," Olivia mused, "I mean, that would be such a dumb way to die."

"That would suck," I said, "luckily I have twenty twenty vision." She threw a chip at me.

"I really do love this movie," I said as the credits rolled. "Now dance with me," I grinned.

Olivia smiled, "at least let me put some music on." She got up and put her ipod on shuffle. We swayed our way through solomon burke all the way to kesha, doing our best to look like all the nerd from the john hughes movies.

"I love dancing," I told her, spinning until I fell over and clutched the the floor, trying to hold on as I felt the room spinning around me. It felt awful. I laughed, "you are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen." I burst into another round of laughter. Olivia shook her head, scrambling for her ipod to put Abba on.

"My dream is to go to the ABBA museum in Sweden," Olivia confessed. "Live it up in the most ridiculous decade." She made the obligatory disco dance move.

"Less talking, more dancing," I said attempting to recreate the scene from mamma mia. We jumped on her bed, singing through our laughter til our sides ached.

After convincing Olivia I would be fine walking home, I left still grinning from the night. It was late, but I didn't mind it. I had been out late in a city before, and that had probably been more dangerous than a small town. What was the worst that could happen to me? I also hated to make Junel come down and get me. She was probably tired as hell, and needed to rest.

She would be pissed that I hadn't called her, going on about how she was failing my mom, but that wasn't true. We took care of each other. I'd just lie to her later and tell her that Olivia had given me a ride, and avoid the whole thing.

I walked across a silent town, the only light was that of lampposts. it was really nice, to be the only one awake at this hour. It was peacefully quiet. Then I looked down an alley.

A brown haired man was standing, holding a woman up. I would have shrugged it off as two drunk lovers if it hadn't looked so wrong. His mouth was on her neck, and there was blood staining his chin. The lady seemed to be passed out. And there was blood on his chin.

My whole body seemed to shut down, unable to process anything but the blood. I needed to move. I needed to get out of here. But my eyes were glued on the pair, transfixed, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

As a scream started to build its way out of my mouth, the man open his eyes and looked over at me. I needed to leave right now. But his gaze held me in place as he casually dropped the woman on the ground and smirked. She didn't move. I needed to move. The man didn't move, watching me with curiosity. He wanted to see what I'd do.

Think, Brett, think.

I closed my eyes, holding back the waves of panic threatening to shut me down. I wanted to lay down and sleep. This wasn't real. I was just tired. i didn't want to think of where my brain was leading me. Those things, they were just the stuff of books and movies.

When I opened them again, he was in front of me, chuckling at me. I wanted to smack him. I settled for reaching my hand out at him, wanting to know if he was real, but gripping for the knife in my keys as well.

"Darling," he said tsking, his smirk growing wider, as he stopped my hand. Pain shot threw my wrist.

i slammed the knife in my hand, aiming for anything really. He clearly wasn't expecting it, and I didn't stick around to see if I had struck anything. I ran, feeling battery acid run through my veins. I didn't think. I had to get home. Don't cry. Not here. Not yet. Hold it together.

Something slammed into me, knocking the wind from my chest.

"So she bites," the man said. No, man was wrong. He was still young, college aged, and devastatingly handsome. He still had blood on his mouth. "I would tell you not to be scared, but well," he said clearly amusing himself, "that would be a lie."

I wondered where my keys had gone. I needed them to get in. I'd rather not start breaking into my own house. This one actually had an alarm.

"Where are my keys" I asked him, careful to keep my voice steady, and hoping he would forget that he wanted to kill- don't think about that. Focus on getting home.

"That's a first," he replied. "It's usually more along the lines of 'don't kill me' but your last words, not mine." He shrugged, "but then you did try to stab me with a tiny blade. Not very smart darling. I'm assuming you're one of the few people left in this godforsaken town unaware of this town's secret."

"I need my keys asshole."

He chuckled, features lighting up with amusement.

I should probably get up, I thought. There was no use in staying where I had fallen. My movements were slow, as the adrenaline cooled, making me aware of the stinging pain. I'd have bruises tomorrow.

"That's not very nice."

He was mocking me.

I scowled, "if you're not going to kill me then give me back my keys." And I clearly had a death wish.

"But we've just started to have fun," he replied, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand, smearing blood on my skin. I flinched. I was going to die here, and all because I hadn't accepted a ride. I wasn't even drunk.

In keeping up with my death wish, I reached to wipe the blood off his mouth, studying the drying substance, mesmerized. I held my breathe, not daring to move, before making myself hold his gaze. His amusement was clear in his eyes. "What's your name darling?"

"My keys," I said cocking my eyebrow.

"Not a very fair trade," he said pouting, "but I am still hungry. Decades spent in a coffin will do that to a man."

I swallowed back the fear, cold blooming across my skin. I outstretched my hand, "keys first."

He smiled sheepishly, "you certainly drive a hard bargain maiden." Then he dropped the keys into my hand.

I took a step back, shoving the keys into my bag, before tilting my neck back and exposing my neck. Vampire, I couldn't help but think. A chill ran down my spine as he closed the distance between us, his hand held the side of my head, before craning down to bite me. My breathe hitched as his fangs sunk into my skin.

I was so stupid. And now I was going to die. I clenched my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut. At least I wouldn't feel any pain. I would pass out from the blood loss before that happened. It would be like going to sleep.

I started trying to shove him off me, clawing at his face, but he was still as stone, and my bones felt brittle. I whimpered, the reality of my imminent death. I didn't want to die. I wanted to get drunk at prom. I wanted Junel to see me graduate. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

He let me go, wiping the blood his lips.

Relief filled my body.

"Kol Mikealson," he said, grinning. He was all mania now, the smug bastard.

I backed away.

"Now don't get all timid on me now," he sighed, cupping my face with his hands. "What's your name," his tone void of all playfulness.

"Brett," I uttered.

He nodded, "forget all this until you see me again. Go home, Brett, and I wouldn't blame you if you dreamed of me. Oh and, don't go to the ball tomorrow."

I blinked and- I couldn't remember.

It was almost two in the morning when I got home. I took a shower after staring at my reflection in the mirror. There was dried blood on my cheek. It wasn't mine. I knew that much. I just didn't know how. There was blood on my neck. The start of a bruise bloomed on my upper arm. I was a mess and I didn't know why.

I took a shower, scrubbing hard at my skin, tears running down my cheeks. I couldn't calm down. Sitting down in the shower, water rinsing my skin. Breathe. Breathe.

Once I felt like I could get up without crying, I got out of the shower, cleaned my wounds and went to sleep. I was out like a light.

 _thoughts?_


	4. Had Ten Dollaz

_"She strikes me as the kind of person who would turn her back to prevent you from seeing her tears, but only after making sure that you'd seen them in the mirror." -Marcel Proust_

"I can't believe you let me worry about you all night," Olivia said barging into my room. I winched as she pulled back the curtains letting all the sunlight in.

I felt sore, my bones brittle with exhaustion, and I had slept till noon. If I hadn't been woken up, I would have probably slept even longer. I groaned, "go away," before curling under the covers. My side stung where the bruises had now darkened to an array of purple and blue patches. I winced.

"I thought you had died. I thought you had been kidnapped," Olivia yelled, ripping my blanket away. She was surprisingly strong for such a sweet and reserved girl.

I buried my face in my pillow, "fuck, let me live." I hated being woken up. I was always such a bitch in the mornings, my aunt hated when she had to wake me up. I yanked the sheets, using them as a blanket. I refused to get up, my bad was way too comfortable.

"Brett," she yelled voice cracking. Oh shit. It was way too earlier for me to deal with this. I turned over, aware that I probably looked like shit. Oh god, tears.

"Olivia," I sighed, "I totally forgot. I was tired."

"You look," she trailed off, trying to be nice, "what happened to you?"

I groan, "who let you in," before rolling over, before shutting my eyes, and drifting off to sleep again. Unfortunately Olivia still wasn't done.

"Brett, your thigh and and arm are all," she continued trailing off yet again. Remembering the bite on my neck, I arranged my hair to cover my neck. Hopefully it hadn't seemed to suspicious. But it would be weirder if she did see. I couldn't explain any of it. I just wanted to forget and move on.

I shrugged, "I fell. It was stupid." I sat up, stretching. "Could we not talk about it?"

She nodded, "okay, but next time I'm giving you a ride whether you like it or not. You have to be more careful Brett, there have been a lot of murders in Mystic Falls recently. I don't want anything to happen to you." She sat down on the edge of my bed, sighing, rubbing her eyes. She had stayed up, worried about me. Shame shot through me.

"I'm sorry," I told her, "let me make it up to you. Are you down for pancakes?"

"Are they any good," she asked, laying down.

I leaned down to grab the blanket off the floor. "We could just take a nap. Naps are good, " I said, yawning.

"Nope, you said pancakes," Olivia said, getting up, "now you better make me some pancakes." She went downstairs, where I could here the tv going on. I bet Junel had left some animal documentary on all morning.

I considered going back too sleep, but figured Olivia would just wake me up again. And I was awake now anyways, I might as well get up and not waste the whole day sleeping.

After changing into jeans and a t shirt, I went to the bathroom hoping that the bit on my neck had been some kind of crazy hallucination. It hadn't been. I closed my eyes groaning, as if the whole thing wasn't weird enough. And then Olivia had mentioned a bunch of murders happening in town. What the hell was thin? Sighing, I grabbed my foundation, carefully covering up the mark behind make up. It took longer than I would have liked, but I managed to make the skin on my neck look normal.

By the time I went downstairs, Olivia had already made pancakes, she smiled sheepishly, admitting "I like cooking, so I figure why not. " I grinned, serving myself cold coffee, then heating it in the microwave. Technology was such a blessing. After i had choked it full of creamer, I sat down with Olivia to eat.

"These pancakes are pretty good," I told her while sipping at my coffee, "and I'm not that much of a pancake person."

"Are you a waffle person?"

"Ew, no," I told her, "waffle's are alright I guess, but cereal is where its at." It often made up two of my meals a day because who gives a fuck. I didn't want to cook, and learning to seemed hard. I had burned myself badly once trying to fry something.

"Typical," she said shaking her head. "Why does no one ever bother to learn how to cook? I mean it's really nice when the entire place smells nice. Especially when baking, because some foods can be quite stinky to make," she continued having started going off on a tangent.

I smiled, happy to have met her. She was so worried she come to check up on me. It was too kind of her, really.

I insisted on cleaning up, a task I always procrastinate on as with most work, since she had cooked. She helped anyways, even though I kept telling her I was fine.

We watched bobs burgers for a while, which gave me a thousand different kinds of second hand embarrassment, but I couldn't help but love this show.

Olivia told me about a mysterious invitation, "it just showed up this morning, and it's fancy so I would expect this to be for a few feels from now because it has that while you have to R.S.V.P. for vibe, but no, it's for tonight. And it's a ball, like pride and prejudice type ball."

I snorted, it sounded really interesting, "so are you going? It could be fun." She shrugged. "Why Lizzy, or should I say, Liv, how many balls will you have the chance to go to in your life?"

"You wouldn't believe the amount of balls we have here in town, but your right. It could be fun. Will you come with me?"

Guilt flooded me as I told her "no, I'd love to go with you, but I feel like shit." It wasn't a complete lie, my body did ache, but I also didn't want to go.

"Fine, I'll ask Bonnie to go with me then," she said, clamming up. She was hurt, I felt bad. But I didn't want to go. "I should probably go and find something to wear then."

"Yeah," I agreed, not really feeling in the mood for anything.

She scurried out, grabbing her things and making me promise to be careful. I nodded but was just wanting to go lay down again.

I was still tired enough to go back to bed. And after forcing myself to throw all the clothes in the washing machine, I did just that.

The sun was much lower the second time I woke up. I hurried to go throw the clothes in the dryer, stubbing my toe against the door in my sleep addled state.

It wouldn't be much longer til my aunt came home from work, and I still had a ton of chores to do.

I worked in a frantic rush, wanting to look like I hadn't just spent the day sleeping. I haphazardly tied my hair into a bun, before running around dusting and vacuuming.

When it came to cleaning, I missed our old apartment. It's small size made it easier to clean, even if it had been cramped.

Somehow I managed to finish before Junel got home, just in time to set down and watch some reruns on tv as she pulled up into the driveway. I could be quick when I wanted to be.

"Hey," she said walking in, "I brought some burgers for dinner." She tossed her bag on a table and sat down in the couch. She passed me a burger and drink.

"I love you," I told her, biting into the burger.

"Well I didn't want to cook anything and I'd rather not have a redo of you almost exploding the microwave. Again, who doesn't know not to put aluminum foil into the microwave," she told me raising an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes, "when will you let that go."

"Never," she said with a wide smirk, before flipping through the channels to find something to watch.

We talked for most of the evening. She complained about her job, her boss was nice but one of her co workers was a complete dick. I told her about Olivia dropping by. "That was so sweet of her. Brett stop ignoring your phone all the time." I asked if she had heard about the Mikaelson's ball.

She had, but had shrugged it off as some old families event thing. Just a thing for all the families who have been here forever to go to.

Junel was probably right.

I went up to my room, not really feeling like watching telenovelas. After sleeping all day, I wasn't ready to go to bed, but I still changed into some pyjama shorts, before grabbing a book, Dune. The pages were worn from use, and the pages full of writing in the margins.

It was late, when something tapped on my window. Startled, I jumped, falling off my window seat. A guy laughed from outside my window. He was wearing a suit.

He motioned for me to open my window. Like an idiot, I shook my head. My phone was on my bed. If I went for it, I could call the police.

I made a run for my bed.

Glass shattered behind me. Shit. I fumbled with unlocking my phone. Junel called from downstairs, worried about the noise he'd made.

"Brett," the guy called, annoyed.

How did he know my name? I hadn't seen him before in my life. I made the mistake of turning around.

"Invite me inside darling," he said, "and tell the lady from downstairs that everything's fine."

It was like something had possessed me. I was aware of my actions, but I had no control over them. I called out to my aunt, "I'm fine, something fell." Then to my horror I invited him in.

"There's a good girl, now," he said settling himself inside, "why don't we head out. I've had a dreadful night and mother forbid me from making a mess in this town." He grinned conspiratorially, "but there are other places to go."

I went downstairs, told my aunt that Olivia was having a rough night and needed me, then took the car. The guy was already waiting, leaning by the car and looking devilishly handsome. He hadn't even let me change, the dick.

"Start talking now, or I'll scream," I threatened. We both knew I was bluffing. I didn't know what he could do, and I wouldn't risk my aunt's life.

"Get in the car darling," he said harshly opening the door and shoving me inside. My arm hurt where he hand grabbed me. I gripped the steering wheel, hard. "Now drive," he said once he had slob into the passenger seat.

I wanted to crash this car and kill us both. If we were going fast enough, I might not feel it.

"Oh and I almost forgot," he said roughly grabbing my chin, "you can remember now Brett."

It was a good thing the road was empty or I would have crashed as the memories from last night flooded in. A terrible understanding filled my mind. I was in the car with a vampire. He shouldn't even be real. I swallowed the blinding panic, and focus on the road.

"Did you miss me," Kol said, clearly amused, "I missed you."

I rolled my eyes, choosing to ignore him. If attention was what he wanted, then I wouldn't give him any. I gritted my teeth.

He fiddled around with the radio as we drove on into the night. I though back, trying to remember a bar somewhere. I was playing chauffeur to a fucking vampire. Hysteria was crawling up my throat. This would be the worst time to laugh.

"Here, stop here Brett," he said motioning to some seedy bar in the middle of nowhere. I parked the car and let him leave. Maybe I could just stay here. Going to a bar in pyjama shorts was not something I wanted to do.

Kol pulled me out of the car anyways, and pulled me along with him. I wanted to fall over and die.

It was just cool enough outside to be bearable.

The bar tender raised her eyebrows but said nothing as Kol ordered drinks. I gave her a hard look. We must have looked ridiculous. He was wearing a suit in some random bar. I suppressed the urge to laugh.

This whole situation was crazy. I let out mangled cry, not sure if I wanted to laugh or cry. I forced myself to calm down, drowning the glass of whiskey. If I started now, I wouldn't be able to stop.

Kol kept glancing at me, clearly amused. "Another drink?"

"Oh go to hell," I muttered. "Why did you drag me out here?"

"I already told you," he said, glancing around, "I'm hungry."

I scowled, liking whatever this was less and less. The bartender easily handed me another glass of whiskey. It burned my throat as I drowned it.

Kol grinned, running the back of his hand over my cheek. I blushed. He was hot, even if he was irritating. "Don't get in my way," was all he told me, then he was gone.

I had barely started to register his words before I heard a scream. My throat tightened, and I finished my drink, gripping the glass. So that's what he had meant.

My hands were shaking, the glass fell and shattered. No one cared. They were all too busy screaming. I turned around.

It was chaos. It was all happening so fast. The blood. The people on the floor. The people clawing over each other, trying to get away. Once I started watching, I couldn't stop. It was like watching a car crash. I couldn't move. I didn't react. I just watched as the screams ended and Kol made his way towards me, lips coated in blood.

There was a maniac gleam to his eyes as he smirked.

I backed away from him, aware of how much I was shaking. My fingertips were cold.

"Come here darling," he said softly, holding out his arm.

I swallowed, reluctantly walking over to him, all too aware of the blood and glass littering the floor. "Can we go now," I asked him, making him laugh.

"You continue to surprise me," he said, before kissing me.

I squirmed, hyper aware of the the blood staining his lips. His grip was iron, keeping me in place. So I slapped the bastard.

Caught off guard, he let me go.

I quickly wiped the blood off my lips, disgusted. My eyes widened as I realized how stupid that had been. "I'm going home," I said, heading towards the door.

Suddenly Kol was in front of my, I jumped unable to react before he slammed me against the door. I yelped as he smiled cruelly. "Brett," he tsk'ed, "you wouldn't want to anger me."

"Then stop being an ass," I retorted. If I was going to die, then I wasn't just going to die crying.

He shook his head, amused, "you are lucky I find you so amusing, or I would have torn out your tongue by now."

I rolled my eyes, surprised he let me push him out of the way. "Clean up, Junel will murder me if I get the car all dirty."

Taking a napkin, he wiped the blood off his lips and dabbed at the stains on his suit, making a show of taking his time. I wanted to strangle him. It was even more infuriating how much my irritation amused him.

I poured myself a drink, pointedly ignoring the bodies. I wasn't drunk enough for this.

Kol led me outside, and made me drive back. Which led me to wonder, "can you not drive or something," I asked him.

He sulked.

"Oh my god," I said slapping the steering wheel, "you can't." I laughed, that was too much. "I mean I didn't learn to drive for the longest time but like- how busy could you have been to not bother learning how to drive?"

Kol scowled, "I was busy rotting in a coffin for the last century."

He had lost me. I bit my lip, trying to figure it out, "so how does it work? The whole vampire thing?" It hit me he hadn't read Anne Rice. "Dude you have to watch the interview with the vampire, it's the greatest thing ever."

He chuckled. It was easy to forget that he was a monster. That I had just stood there as he had killed a bar full of people, who probably had loved ones. I shook my head. I doubted anyone at a seedy bar was that much of a loss.

The drive back to Mystic Falls seemed shorter. I drive back home, not sure where he lived.

To top off the night, Kol tipped my head back and sank his teeth into my neck. It was just as painful as before, but he didn't drink as much. He wiped my blood off his lips, giving me a soft smile.

"Please don't make me forget," I pleaded. I wanted to avoid the holes in my memory.

He nodded, pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear, "only because you asked nicely darling. Now Brett, you must avoid Elena Gilbert and all her little friends. I'd hate for you to get caught up in my brother's latest war. Tell no one that I was here, or what happened."

I nodded, knowing that he had done that thing again. And that I would have no choice but to go along with it. I started to head inside, but almost fell over instead.

Kol caught me, steadying me. "Here," he said, slicing his wrist, and offering it to me.

I turned my head away, protesting, but he had already pressed his wrist to my lips, flooding my mouth with blood. It was metallic, but slightly off. It warmed my insides like soup did when I had a cold. I swallowed eagerly.

Kol ripped his wrist from me, "go home Brett."

I nodded, going red with shame. It had been wrong, to want to drink his blood. To have talked easily with Kol, who took glee in the slaughter of people. Who could just as easily killed me.

But he hadn't.

Exhausted, I went to sleep, not bothering to do much else but kick off my shoes.

Tomorrow I'd figure this mess out.

 _idk how well my characterization of kol is, but i tried...thoughts_


End file.
